Go Naked

There are something you like just because they make you feel good. 'Green Machine' Naked is one of those things for me. Love. Love. Love. Naked Green Machine was my breakfast with a sun-dried tomato bagel with melted cheese and pesto for lunch. (This is what happens when one is out running errands and does not want fast food.)

Dinner was all about embracing some black bean chili I had in the freezer paired with toasted cheese on a roasted garlic bread picked up at the grocery today. Yum! A banana for dessert.

One show ended, but always busy with other projects.

I've been hungary for chili and tonight the rest of my family was having it. I made my own nice pan of homemade chili tonight. I sarted by sauteeing diced onion, garlic, and diced mushroom pieces in some vegetable oil with some hot pepper flakes. (I don't always use diced mushrooms, but sometimes I "sneak" them in for added texture and nutrients.) Then, I added some bulgar that I pre-soaked in water to help soften. (Sometimes I use a plain rice much the same way.) I added rinsed black and kidnet beans and a can of tomato soup (without the water). The enough tomato juice to give the desired liquid needed and spices (chili, cumin, pepper flakes). I let it all cook through and served it over some cooked noodles with a sprinkling of cheese. Yummy!

My meatless circles seem to be expanding as I talked to a few people in my life the last couple days that have either given meat up in the last year or have given it up for Lent. Whatever the reasons it does make me feel a little bit less alone on this path than in the days before.

Another day, another meal

So, I'm fighting a bit of a cold. One of my brothers started with it and everyone in the house has had it to some point or another. I'm dealing with it and with the fact that I really do not feel like cooking. Tonight I raided the leftovers I had in the refridgerator. I cooked some noodles and heated up a container of bulgar chili I had in the freezer, topped with some peices of swiss cheese from the refridgerator. Hearty and simple. Depending on the pasta I usually add and toppings (cheese in this case) the chili itself is vegan; full of onion, garlic, a mixture of different kinds of beans, spices, and bulgar. Mine tends to be on the spicy side.

"Heaven is by favor; if it were by merit your dog would go in and you would stay out. Of all the creatures ever made [man] is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one... that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain." ~Mark Twain

Happy New Year

I haven't forgotten, it's just been a rather busy time with the holidays and all the family stuff that goes around it. For Thanksgiving I made my own version of a Portabella Wellington for my Grandpa and myself and for Christmas dinner I made something between a Portabella Wellington and a Meatless Shepard's Pie inside the puffed pastry I had leftover from Christmas. Both are things I will probbaly try again.

The last couple days I have been back to my cooking self, making sure I had stuff tucked away in the freezer for my upcoming show. I made bulgar/black bean chili and black beans and rice. (Both with extra helpings in the freezer.)

Today, I decided to make the meatless version of the sandwhich the fast food chains wish they could make. My not sausage biscuit breakfast-inspired sandwhich. I made two biscuits (we keep the kind in the freezer where you can make one or the whole bag) and two Morningstar "sausage" patties with a single egg scrambled with a couple sliced mushrooms, a bit of green onion, salt, pepper, and a dash of milk, topped with a small bit of cheese. The mushrooms and green onion made a nice addition to the sandwhich. Served with apple slices it made a nice lunch.

"You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chili for Now and Later

As with my typical view about being a vegetarian and eating a diet without flesh does not mean going without. I made a nice pot of chili for dinner (and froze the rest). Sometimes there is just nothing better than a spicy, steamy bowl of chili served over plain cooked pasta (especially like rotini, although any noodle will do inlcuding spagetti).




I sauteed some chopped onion and a clove of garlic in oil and water until everything was translucent and lovely. I added it to a pot with chili beans, kidney beans, and black beans. Then added tomato juice as needed with the chili spicespepper flakes, and hot sauce. Sometimes, I add tomato soup straight out of the can to work as a little bit of thickening, but not necessary. Pretty much whatever looks good to put in it. (I love adding the black beans with the other to add another level.) I let it cook through, then boiled some pasta noodles and drained. So yummy. When everything was ready I made a nice pile of pasta on the bottom of my bowl, sprinkled it with hot sauce and shredded cheese (without the cheese it is meat and dairy free), then toopped with a heaping portion of chili and a sprinkles of cheese. Fabulous and delicious.





Chili night has always been a fairly big night in my house. The table included not only a big pot of chili, but pleanty of fixings; cooked pasta noodles, corn chips, cheese, shreddded lettuce, salsa, hot sauce, hot pepper flakes, chili spices, sugar (my mom and brother prefer to sweeten it a bit), and whatever else looks like an apealing addition. Everyone has their own way and own preferences right down to how spicy it should be and what it chould be served over. I started adding black beans to mine and increasng the overall amount of beans in it (as well as the diced onion) to adapt to no longer including hamburger. I still make a decent amount and then freeze the extras for another day. (I do this alot with things instead of making single sized portions.) It's nice to have on hand when I don't feel like cooking.

As said by Marty Feldman: "I won't eat anything that has intelligent life, but I'd gladly eat a network executive or a politician."